Ouch!!

Halle had a special day at school today. It was Camp Kindergarten. They go on a field trip and get to do all kinds of special activities. She's been counting down to this for weeks now.
The time came to go out to the bus this morning and of course she was running and the first one out the door. I was grabbing my coat when I heard a thud and then crying. She missed the front step and did a major face plant on the cement.

I got her cleaned up in time for the bus and she still had a great time at camp.
Here's what she looks like:

The Landscaping

I promised you pictures of the hard work we did in our landscaping.
We worked so hard this weekend, and I'm so happy with how it turned out!
We started by taking out the lilac tree. Mark worked so hard getting that thing out!
I will miss the lilacs, but it was getting so bushy and out of control it was time for it to go:


We also put in all the edging and put in new Hostas and begonias:




Instead of the lilac tree, we got a crabapple tree:


One of my best accomplishments was to paint our old bench. It used to be green on the sides and the wood was stained a dark brown. We painted the whole thing and it looks so good- I absolutely love it!

The saga continues....

please note- this post written in jest!

I wrote a post awhile back- you can read it here
Another chapter has been written tonight.
You see, I've had sleepless nights about the hard feelings Bob has had toward me. It is such a sad situation and I couldn't take it for one more minute.
So I thought to myself- I'm going to rise above all this viciousness and try to extend a hand of forgiveness to Bob.
I decided to bake for him. I slaved in the kitchen for hours and made this beautiful pie for him:



Look at what happened next:



Apparently, he doesn't like blueberry pie because he threw it at me!



Actually, I'm just kidding- that's what happens when your mind goes a little crazy with an idea to blog about!

I certainly hope he feels the love that went into this pie and he starts appreciating me again!

What a great weekend

We had such a great weekend! We pretty much worked all weekend around the house doing yard work etc.. but the weather was perfect we couldn't have asked for any better.

Friday night we decided to do some pretty major landscaping- we worked on that Saturday and Monday-I'll show you the results tomorrow-here's a sneak peak though:




On Monday we also put in the garden, put up the pool and 1 other huge thing- but it's not done yet so you're going to have to wait on that also.

Here's some pictures of the girls helping Mark put in the garden we planted green and yellow peppers, onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, zucchini:

7 Facts About Me

Here are 7 facts about me:
1. I only can think of 1 nickname I had when I was younger- my dad started it and I don't really understand it but it was "Luke".

2. I loved being pregnant and still wish I would have had the chance to do it just 1 other time without complications so I could have felt a baby move 1 more time.

3. I really really really love to laugh!

4. I work in real estate and never imagined I would love it like I do!

5. This is going to be shocking to most of you-NOT- but I hate the heat.
I have always hated it- even when I was a baby I got heat rash and still to this
day I can't stand it when it's hot out.

6. I love to cook and bake. If I could have a dream job it would be to own my own
baking business.

7. Some day I really hope I get to go to Hawaii- it looks so beautiful there.

I'm not tagging anyone- if you'd like to do it jump on in!

Happy Birthday

It is a very big day today! It is my newest sister's Dena's Birthday today!
We are so excited to have her in our family. It's a little sad to have a new family member and I've never had the chance to meet her in person (hint hint Dena) but don't worry Dena- I will definately be eating a piece of cake to celebrate your day today!!

We all wish you a terrific, wonderful, special birthday today. I hope you get pampered and lots and lots of Birthday hugs and kisses from Annie today. If you get a chance- head over to her website and wish her a special day.

Hugs from Michigan!

Yummy recipe

I tried something different with my meatloaf recipe for supper tonight and it was delicious so I thought I'd share.

1 pd hamburger
2 eggs
onion
salt and pepper
1 roll of Ritz crackers crumbled
1/2-1 16 ounce tomato sauce

Mix all together.- Then take a green pepper cut off the top and bottom and slice it horizontally into rings- I got 2 rings out of a pepper. Fill them with the meatloaf mixture and put in 9x13 pan.

Top with sauce:

16 ounce can of diced tomatoes- I used the ones with basil in them
8 ounce of tomato sauce

Bake at 350 for 1 hour- enjoy!

1 more for her resume

Arianna absolutely loves to write. She now has 1 more book under her belt. She came home from school and had written a book about dogs. The sweet thing is that she wrote this one for Halle's class library.
Here are some pages from her book:








The last page I found especially sweet- check this out:

In Memory

You've probably already seen a similar post over at Terri's and Mari's- but I didn't want this day to go by without paying a little tribute to my mom.
My mom died 5 years ago today and she is greatly missed.
I feel so blessed that she was my mom- she was very patient and loving and she was so very proud of all of us.
I hope one day that my kids will feel that I was as good of a mom as she was to me.
I love you and miss you so much- the reunion we will have in Heaven will be so sweet!

The White Caps Game

Our school does a reading program and if the kids complete it then they get 2 free tickets to go see the White Caps play baseball. We coordinated our date so we could go with Shaelyn and her family.
I was quite concerned all week because they were predicting rain. Well it turned out perfect! Sunny and comfortable. We had so much fun!





We sang the National Anthem and I looked over and saw this:


I love that they have their hand over their hearts!

Here's Arianna doing the YMCA- looks like Uncle Dave even got in on that fun:


Here is Halle and Arianna doing the chicken dance:

I'm not sure what's going on over here!

If I misspell any words you'll have to excuse me because I find myself in a bit of shock over here today.

The strangest thing has happened. Nick spent the night at his friends house last night so today it's just the girls. Apparently they might actually like each other just a bit!
They haven't fought once today (yes, I realize I'm jinxing myself by saying that!)
In fact they have been very busy today. I heard them cleaning and normally I don't clean on Sunday, but I just couldn't bring myself to tear them away from their fun!
As of now- they have cleaned my room, Halle's room, the bathroom, Arianna's room and made Nick's bed for him!

Ummm Yeah- I can't believe it! If anyone knows what has morphed into my darling girls- please don't tell me- I rather prefer this than the normal!

And the hard work pays off

Arianna's team for soccer has been a struggle this year. The teams aren't exactly split up fairly this year so they haven't won any games in the fall season or so far in the spring season. I kept telling her that it was more about having fun playing than winning (which I truly believe) but a win here and there sure would be nice.
This past Saturday, it finally happened. Those girls played their hearts out and finally won. I was so happy for them.



Oops- the ball slipped right out of her hands!!


I just love this picture of her:

A little flower happiness for you

My favorite flowers are Tulips- I just absolutely love them. After we left Mark's family yesterday we drove to go see the Tulips from our Tulip Time Parade. For those of you not around here the parade is a big deal. The festivities were last week and they last for days. I didn't want to deal with the crowds- and there are huge crowds- so we waited till yesterday.
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!







I played around with the photo for this final picture:




Don't mind Halle not being too happy- we had to wake her up to take this shot:

Happy Mother's Day

I hope you all had a very special Mother's Day. I was spoiled and had a very special Day.
I got cinnamon roles for breakfast and then we went off to church. After church we went to Mark's family for dinner- the whole family was there so it was a very full table.
I have to show you some presents that I got:






Here's what Nick got me- these are flowers that he has cared for at his job every day- they are so beautiful!


Arianna got me some perfume that I just love and she wrote me a whole book of poems and she did a great job!



Halle got me some body cream and she made me her hand print- what a treasure!



It was a very nice day to spend with my favorite gifts I've ever gotten-
Nick, Arianna and Halle!

It was a big night!

Well another big hurdle was crossed last night by one of my kids.

Mark took Nick last night to get his drivers permit. And so it begins....
He does a good job driving and I'm very proud of him- but it still makes me nervous on the busy roads and highways. I'm sure it will be fine with time but the first couple times I think I'll let Mark go with him~

Will there be any left?

So yesterday I posted about my toothless wonder. Well yesterday afternoon Halle comes bounding in the door after school exclaiming that she lost another one- that is 4 teeth in 2 weeks!
She better be careful or she's not going to have any left to eat with.
She did tell me this morning that she doesn't want to lose any more till after summer because she's afraid she won't be able to eat corn on the cob! Good thing 1 new tooth is already showing it's face.

Cyclone update

Just quick to update- I just heard on the news that they now expect the death toll to be around 100,000 people!!!!
That is just unbelievable.
Here's an excerpt:

YANGON, Myanmar - Bodies floated in flood waters and survivors tried to reach dry ground on boats using blankets as sails, while the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar said Wednesday that up to 100,000 people may have died in the devastating cyclone.

Hungry crowds stormed the few shops that opened in the country's stricken Irrawaddy delta, sparking fist fights, according to Paul Risley, a spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program in neighboring Thailand. "Basically the entire lower delta region is under water," said Richard Horsey, Bangkok-based spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid.



It just seems so wrong to go about my day like normal when there are so many people that are suffering in unspeakable ways right now.
I'm just praying that they start accepting help and some relief comes to these people and some good comes from this.

Wordless Wednesday

My toothless wonder!

So tragic

I couldn't believe my ears this morning when I heard on the news that the cyclone death toll in Myanmar has soared above 22,000!

I can't seem to wrap my mind around that many people being lost in this cyclone and also the suffering that those left behind are having to deal with.
They are saying that now the Government is finally saying they will accept help.

I can't help but think that this is another sign of end times. So many incredible weather events have been happening lately.

Please pray for these people, that some good would come of this tragedy. Perhaps if they allow help in, these people would be able to be witnessed to.

The story of the mean brother in law

Disclaimer: this is all written in jest

I have to back this story up and start from the beginning for you.
A little over a month ago, my wonderful sister Mari was talking to me about re-doing their kitchen. We talked for awhile and I shared with her that as long as she was changing some major things in her kitchen- she really needed to add a dishwasher.
She went on to explain that they tried but they couldn't figure out a way to make the cupboards work with a dishwasher. I gave her some ideas and left it there.
Long story short- they ended up deciding to do a dishwasher and here's where the story gets very sad.
Her husband Bob, is now blaming me for the extra work he is having to do just because I wanted what was best for my sister because I love her.

Now it doesn't end there- Bob has taken this to ridiculous lengths. You might remember this post from Mari from their trip to get Andy.
Do you see where he blames me for the GPS not giving good directions? Please take note that even though he's been treating me horribly- telling me I'm his least favorite sister in law- I rose above and still let him use my GPS. I do appreciate the fact that he recognizes my incredible genius to be able to program the GPS to do something like that!!

Now this past Wednesday though- he took his little vendetta against me too far- I again have to back up a bit. Earlier this year, I went to pick up Mari and accidentally backed up into their trash can and broke the wheel off the trash can.
I apologized and they got a different trash can from the company and it was resolved. Or so I thought.
A couple nights ago Mark and Nick were taking out the trash and I hear them talking about how our trash can wheel is broken and won't stay attached. Well my ears perked up and I hobbled out to the trash can for a closer look- yes- sure enough I spotted a little patch of green paint! Well I find it very interesting that Bob drives a green truck. Coincidence- I think not!!

I can only come to the conclusion that you- Bob- are guilty, guilty, guilty of the purposeful destruction of an innocent trash can!
You really need to come up with better things to do with your time- maybe you could start with a heart felt apology letter to me for your very hurtful actions and words. I think you need to take a hard look at what you have put me through- and PS- I suggest getting on this pretty quickly because Christmas is coming and you know I'm pretty tight with Santa!!!